Written by Annalisa Cunningham
Last week I was shopping in a grocery store with my mask on. All of a sudden I heard a woman next to the frozen foods scream at another woman: “get away from me, you are supposed to be six feet away!” The woman being yelled at was perhaps 4 feet away from the woman who was screaming. She apologized and immediately backed up. All of us who heard the scream were startled. Not a fun shopping experience.
The woman who screamed was obviously living in fear of catching the Corona Virus. Many of us feel this fear to some extent. As we listen to nonstop news of suffering and despair its easy to feel afraid. We need to be cautious. We want to protect ourselves and our loved ones.
Yet can we do this without living in fear? Can we keep our hearts open in the midst of so much uncertainty?
Science of Mind teaches that our thoughts are powerful. Thoughts have energy. Positive thinking uplifts our life-force energy. Negative thinking dissipates it. And our thoughts are contagious. Think about that. Fear is contagious. But so is love.
If you wonder how you can make a difference during this time of sheltering in place the answer is to focus on love. Send love to your friends. Send prayers. Send light. Send Jesus, Krishna, angels, the Medicine Buddha, Mother Mary, or just, simply, pure Love. No expression of love is ever wasted. No prayer is ever lost. No distant encouraging words are without meaning. No positive, healing intention ever misses its mark.
I believe that love is the greatest healer available to us, and from us. And yet I sometimes struggle with loving myself. I notice that when I’m fearful it’s harder to allow love to flow in my life. So I work with my thoughts. If the news is too upsetting I limit my exposure. I focus on things that bring me joy. Protection does not mean contraction. We can be cautious about the corona virus without contracting into fear. Lets expand into love instead. Love is contagious.
How can you spread your love today?